Judges issue: Crucial meet b/w Nawaz

Published: Wednesday, April 30, 2008, 9:02 [IST]

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{image-pakistan flag_30042008.jpg www.oneindia.com}Islamabad, Apr 30: PPP co-Chairman Asif Ali Zardari and PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif are scheduled to meet in Dubai today for a final dialogue between the two parties over the judges restoration issue. A deadlock has been prevailing between the two parties over the issue, even as Nawaz's brother Shahbaz Sharif had been negotiating with the PPP. PML-N sources confirmed that Nawaz had already flown to Dubai to break the impasse. Zardari is already camping in Dubai for the past few days.

PML-N leader and Federal Education Minister Ahsan Iqbal said: "There is stalemate." Prior to leaving for Dubai, Nawaz reportedly said at the Allama Iqbal International Airport that the sacked judges should be restored in accordance with the Murree Declaration, which, he added, clearly stated that the sacked judges would be restored through a parliamentary resolution within 30 days of the formation of the federal government.

Restoration of the sacked judges was the basic point of the coalition between the PML-N and PPP, added Nawaz. Today's meeting would be the third and final session of talks between the PPP and the PML-N, as Wednesday is the final day of the 30-day deadline. And, if the talks ended in failure, the PML-N would evolve a final strategy, which could include quitting the federal government. The PML-N would not make any bid to destabilise the government even if it parts way with the coalition government, the Daily Times quoted PML-N sources as saying.

According to the paper, senior PML-N official Siddiqul Farooq reiterated the threat that the party would pull its ministers from the federal cabinet if the judges were not reinstated on time. The coalition would continue for five years even if it had some difference of opinion, he was quoted as saying in an interview with PTV.

Separately, a senior lawmaker for the PPP, Mian Sattar said that the party was committed to an independent judiciary but was worried about "judicial adventurism". "We also want to change the system. The solution is that the constitutional amendments and the revival of the judiciary should be on the same day," Sattar added.